Delas Freres Hermitage les Bessards 2020 (750ML)

97-99 JD / 97-98 VM / 95-97 WA / 97 JS / 17.5+ JR

Looking terrific out of barrel, the 2020 Hermitage Les Bessards boasts classic aromas of crushed stone, black cherries and cassis on the nose. It's full-bodied, perhaps a touch warm, but with wonderfully silky, rich tannins and a long, licorice-tinged finish. It should drink well for close to two decades.—Joe Czerwinski, The Wine Advocate

Inky violet. Displays assertive aromas of blackcurrant, cherry-cola and violet, along with olive, smoked meat and vanilla nuances that gain strength with aeration. Vibrant, focused and appealingly sweet, offering intense, mineraldriven black and blue fruit, floral pastille and smoky bacon flavors that become
deeper and spicier as the wine opens up. The floral note comes back strong on the impressively long, penetrating finish, which features youthfully chewy tannins and exotic spice notes. Long-established and quite large, Delas Frères has been on a roll for a good decade or more, and
the quality has improved since they moved to their new, state-of-the-art winery in the heart of Tain l’Hermitage just before the 2019 harvest. I consider the 2019s and 2020s to be the strongest sets of wines here. Especially the 2020s, which are impressively fresh and balanced across the board, with
the energy to reward patience. The Hermitage bottlings are the winery's pride, and in recent vintages, they can be counted among the appellation's top wines. - By Josh Raynold, Vinous Media

All Syrah from unquestionably one of the greatest terroirs on the planet for the variety, the dense purple-hued 2020 Hermitage Les Bessards offers up a monster of a bouquet of primordial blue fruits, camphor, burning embers, and scorched earth. This carries to a powerful yet incredibly pure Hermitage with building tannins, bright acidity, stunning mid-palate depth, and a great finish. It's going to push the upper boundary of my rating scale, but it's for consumers with plenty of patience and will be mostly only educational for the first decade of life or so.—Jeb Dunnuck

This giant Hermitage has remarkable meaty power, smoky mystery and inky depth. It is matched by the bold and refined structure on the wide-screen palate. The tannins slowly swell to a stunning crescendo at the fabulous finish, yet there is nothing overdone about this extraordinary wine. Drinkable now, but best from 2025.—James Suckling

Cask sample. Deepest crimson. Closed but rich in black fruit. Dark and a little charry. Sweet damson too. On the palate, savoury, dense, compact. Big but rounded tannins. Power and incipient complexity. Chewy and long. –Julia Harding MW, Jancis Robinson